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Travers, John (audio interview #1 of 1)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - John Travers was interviewed in an office in the Signal Hill City Yard. TOPICS - family background; Japanese families; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; Kid Mexico; WWII; military; municipal employment; and Fiesta de Oro Negro;municipal employment; family background; sports; and Signal Hill Water Department; 6/27/1989
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- 2022-10-20
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- SUBJECT BIO - John Travers grew up in Signal Hill and has held various civil service jobs in the city. At the time of the interview, he was Superintendent of Public Works had worked for the city for 34 years. He has observed many changes in the city and the way it treated its employees. In this single interview, Travers talks about his family moving to Signal Hill during the Depression when Japanese families still farmed among the oil developments that dominated the area. After he graduated from high school, he joined the Army and when he was discharged, he returned to Signal Hill and went to work for the city. At that time, city employees were expected to perform maintenance work for city council members and all of the city's equipment was old and out of date. At the time of the interview, all that had changed. Travers is proud of the way things have changed for city employees and the new equipment they have to work with. The interview was conducted as part of a project to document the history of Signal Hill. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - John Travers was interviewed in an office in the Signal Hill City Yard. TOPICS - family background; Japanese families; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; Kid Mexico; WWII; military; municipal employment; and Fiesta de Oro Negro;municipal employment; family background; sports; and Signal Hill Water Department;
- *** File: shjtravers1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:41)... Travers He moved to Signal Hill in 1934 and lived in a house on 21st St. that was owned by the Hinshaws. Nearby there was another house that had a bakery on the bottom floor. The Signal Hill courthouse where judge Foutz presided was on the top floor. There were few other homes around. A Japanese family that lived on St. Louis and 20th, had two daughters who used to babysit for Travers. There was a fire station nearby on Cherry and just north of that, there was a grocery store and post office. And near that was a Gordon's drugstore, which became a barbershop in the 1950's. There was a Northcutt's market nearby, as well as a police station. The library was located where the community service building is there now. Travers started at Signal Hill school and them went to Hamilton Jr. High. (2:41-4:34)... The first time Travers saw Signal Hill school he was about 2 or 3 years old. The 1933 earthquake had just happened, and kids weren't allowed in the buildings. There were tents all along one side of the school where classes were being held and there was a huge garden there where kids worked to get credits for food. Shell Oil Company had an office on the south side of Hill St., between Obispo and Redondo. The company had Christmas parties every year for the residents and children, and they used to have great gifts. In addition, there was an agency that loaned out toys to kids. (4:34-6:24)... Kid Mexico's home was on 23rd and Cerritos with a pool and a 1 lane bowling alley. He also operated a bowling alley with about 8 lanes, and next to that he had a fancy restaurant and next to that, he had a building for gambling. On Saturday mornings he had big parties for kids with movie stars making personal appearances. He also staged dance marathons. Southern California Military Academy, which was on Signal Hill at the time of the interview, had been there as long as Travers could remember. The military academy students used to play football on a field near the buildings and local kids used to go and watch. Sometime military academy student flew kites along Cherry and local kids cut the strings so they could stead the kites which they couldn't afford to buy for themselves. (6:24-8:03)... Before WWII, there were many fires on Signal Hill; wooden derricks caught on fire. After WWII started, access to Signal Hill was limited. Japanese farmers were sent away and their gardens were taken over by the military. After the end of the war, kids played in the tunnels built by the military. (8:03-10:13)... During WWII, many beaches were off limits because of military activities. There were many beaches that they couldn't go on because of the military equipment. Travers, at the time of the interview, had worked for the city of Signal Hill for 34 years. He worked for all of the city's City Managers; before he came to work, the city was managed by the City Clerk. City jobs were very insecure. Anyone who worked for the city had to live here. Plus, whenever there was an election that changed the majority on the City Council, city employees who had been hired by those on the losing side might be fired. His mother, Gertrude Beebe, worked for the city for 35 years. There used to be a city celebration every year called the Fiesta de Oro Negro. There was a parade on Cherry Ave. and the city shut down Jesse Nelson Dr. for an all night party. There was also a portable jail. Any man who did not grow a beard, could be put in jail. To get out, he had to pay a fine and was thrown into a big tank of water. Kids could jump in and try to get the change that fell out of the pockets of men without beards. *** File: shjtravers2.mp3 (0:00-4:04)... When Travers first went to work for he city, it was as a part time employee until there was an opening for a full time employee. Most city employees were in their 60s and friends of City Council members. This put a larger burden on younger men on city payroll. Travers worked on a trash truck for about 3 years. The city had 2 trucks and they picked up trash every day. Then they took it to a city incinerator where it was burned. On Wednesdays, they picked up ashes from backyard incinerators and glass which they took to a dump on Pacific Coast Highway. Travers asked for a transfer from picking up trash because the men he worked with couldn't do half of the work. When he didn't get transferred, he quit and went to work in the oil fields. He found a job perforating pipe for McCullough Tool Co. but didn't like the job. So about a year and a half later, the city of Signal Hill was hiring again and so he went back to work there. He also worked at night for a bus company because he had a wife and family at the time. He held down the 2 jobs for about 5 months and ended up in the hospital with exhaustion. When he recovered, he took the city service exam and went back to work for the Signal Hill Water Department where he stayed for the next 30 years. The wages weren't very good, so he sometime worked weekends for extra money. (4:04-8:21)... When Travers was young, land in Signal Hill was cheap and his mother bought a lot by paying delinquent property taxes. After she remarried, she and Travers' stepfather, they built a house there. When Travers got out of the service, he lived at this house for about a year until he married and moved into another Signal Hill house. When the San Diego Freeway was built, he bought the house, which had to be moved out of the way, and and moved it onto the front of his mother's lot. There was a big political controversy when Signal Hill changed its rules so that city employees didn't have to live in the city. When Travers first came to work for the city of Signal Hill as a permanent employee, all the council representatives lived in the north end of town. The south end had few city services except trash pickup. And city employees had to go to council representatives homes and do repairs such as fixing plumbing or TVs. (8:21-14:56)... When Travers first worked for the city, the requests of council representatives were always fulfilled. If a council members wanted his trees trimmed, for example, they were trimmed. The north end of the city had voted as such a solid block that the council representatives from there could swing any election. Travers went to school with Kid Mexico's sons. They and Kid Mexico's wife were nice although they were rich. Kid Mexico threw parties with Hollywood stars such as Hopalong Cassidy, for local kids near his bowling alley. At Christmas, he threw big parties and gifts for children. (14:56-17:18)... The Shell Oil Company had a baseball field on Signal Hill before WWII. During the war when many famous baseball players were in the service, he saw some of them play at Recreation Park in Long Beach. Local children on Signal Hill didn't fraternize with the boys at the military academy; they believed academy students were all rich kids, so they tormented them whenever they could. (17:18-21:51)... When Travers got out of the army, he lived on Signal Hill and shopped for groceries at a little store near where he lived but there weren't very many markets on Signal Hill. He went to Long Beach to buy clothes. For recreation, he played fast pitch softball and went to the beach. When his daughters began playing he became a coach. When he first started working for the city of Signal Hill, there were few other people his age working there. The next youngest person was 20 years older than he was. And the equipment they used was poor; some of it was as much as 30 years old. Signal Hill city employees, equipment and benefits have really improved in the last eight years before the time of the interview. (21:51-24:50)... When Travers worked for the Water Department, he felt very isolated from workers in other city departments. Many of the other workers were older and didn't want to get along with younger workers. At the time of the interview, things had greatly improved. In the last 8 years, the city has started putting on Christmas parties and recognition dinners for those who retire. (24:50-28:26)... The Hilltop restaurant was on the top of Signal Hill, across from the Denni mansion, and overlooked the city. It featured big band and ballroom dancing and was quite an exclusive place. Signal Hill also had many beer joints. There were soap box derby races on Redondo by the National Guard Armory as well Model-Ts that tried to climb Shell hill every year. End of tape
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